Causes Of Violence Against Women

The topic this policy analysis assignment will focus on is violence against women in the United States. Seven in ten women experience some form of violence in their lifetime (Unite, n.d.). To curtail violence against women, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 created the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes, and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combat violence (nnedv.org, n.d.). A question to be pursued for this project is how much has violence against women improved over the last decade? According to CBS News in 2013, “Rates (of rapes and sexual assaults) declined from a peak of 5 per 1,000 women in 1995 to 1.8 per

Throughout centuries of human existence, women have been deemed as inferior to men in multiple different cultures and religions. Men have developed a norm to be the individual who carries out duties to help maintain a stable life for himself and the family in which he is providing for. Because of this fundamentalist approach towards how society should be, women’s rights have been suppressed throughout political, social, and cultural actions. The Islamic religion in particular, is fond of abusing the rights of women and empowering the rights of men in such a way that it has created a permanent existence of conflict within countries who follow Islam. In fact, in the Quran it states that women must have lesser authority than men, therefore their

Violence against women within the family is an ongoing issue. Marital rape is a very serious form of intimate violence. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition for marital rape is defined as, “sexual intercourse forced on a women by her husband, knowingly against her will.” (Oxford University Press). However, the legal definition varies from state to next; marital rape is commonly defined as unwanted penetration or intercourse (oral, anal, or vaginal) taken by force and/or threat of force when a wife does not give consent (Roberts and Roberts). Research on the topic of marital rape has generally included couples who are separated, legally married, divorces, or have been involved in long-term relationships.

unequally in marriage, in court, and in society. Difficulty through marriage for Muslim women can come from age, divorce, and having to be subservient to their husbands. Not only is there difficulty in marriage, but also in the unequal treatment in the islamic justice systems, such as when “evidence given by a female witness counts for half that given by a man” (Dargie 22). Although the societies of major Islamic countries differ, it is clear that women are not represented equally to men in any of them, for example having to dress and act certain ways so as not to attract any attention from men. However, there are Islamic women who are willing to change how their religion views females by speaking out and encouraging others to do the same.

In spite of women making huge gains in educational attainment and labor force involvement in the past decades - gains that have helped

“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.

Every day, women experience violence at the hands of men. Somehow, in our society, even rape and assault have fallen into a moral grey area. With the controversy surrounding [that], few pay much thought to the less extreme, but far more common acts of molestation. While smaller attacks are considered innocuous by many, they too can have long lasting effects of and we as women have no way to ever escape.

It is true that today women are allowed and even encouraged to get higher education, by teachers and educators. But, as I said earlier, the sad truth is most young women are swayed by the false image the media presents of women. Young women today are sold a bill of goods through the medium of movies, music, and television. They grow up thinking that Lindsey

The new view is that women are just as capable as men to go into higher education because women are strong and independent. There is simply no reason though for women to complete higher education. Completing an undergraduate degree

Societies who failed to acknowledge marital violence to be a violation of women’s human rights, blamed women who are beaten or abused by their intimate partner (Francine Pickup, 2007). Thus making them to feel guilty as they were responsible for choosing the wrong partner (HRSC, 2014). As such they choose to remain silent about their abuse and do not look for legal remedies because they believed it is their fault for being abused (HRSC, 2014). Women may accept to be victimized by men’s violence because they have continuously witnessed their mother, and other female relatives assuming this role. Many women also concealed their abused because they feared stigmatization, rejection and social exile by their families and communities until their

After reading this chapter, I am shocked over how much violence towards women goes underreported. I knew beforehand that victims of gendered violence do not report their situation to the police for various reasons, ranging from fear to shame. However, I did not know that reporting of gendered violence is especially rare in communities with women of color. Realizing how minority communities expect the female members “...to maintain silence about sexual assault, to protect ‘family honor and community integrity’” (p.265) was both frustrating and heartbreaking. The fact that the community the woman is a member of, during the time she needs them the most, expects her to continue suffering with her current situation was depressing to read. I can understand how the minority community, and the minority victim of abuse, may want to keep the police out of their situation because of reports about police brutality. However, their denial of receiving help due to stigma against police, who are the most capable for ending the victim’s abuse, was tragic to learn about.

In the 19th century, women did not have equality when it came to higher education. However, the growth of public schools and the need for teachers led to increased enrollment for women, who were seen as particularly suitable to care for and educate children. Not coincidentally, school districts were also able to pay women much less than men. After some time, women's access to higher education expanded more broadly, as both single-sex and coeducational institutions opened their doors. As a result, females could begin to enter, at least in small numbers, traditionally male professions, becoming authors, doctors, lawyers, and ministers. If I had to compare how things have changed in regards to higher education in the 1900’s to 2016; I would say

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.

The rights of women have been debated in communities around the world for centuries. Many religions have agreed that women deserve to have the basic rights of men, but in the Muslim world, men are allowed to decide which rights, if any, their sisters, daughters, wives, female cousins, and even mothers can express. Islamic men should not have this extreme power over women. Many Muslim feminists, including some men, have tried to stand up to this nonsense and have been murdered for standing up for the rights the Qur’an has given them.

This study sought to determine the perception of the residents on the social acceptability of the various forms and prevalence of violence against women. The study supposed that when people perceived the various forms of violence against women as socially acceptable, their prevalence tends to be high.